if republicans do not agree, is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff? >> absolutely. >> there's no agreement that doesn't involve the rates going up on the top wealthy 2%. >> republicans clinging to what little leverage they have to maximize cuts zeroed in on the debt ceiling hoping for a repeat of the 2011 showdown where house republicans were able to extract $2 trillion in cuts. $1 trillion cut from domestic programs in ten years and $1.2 trillion in cuts through a sequester. wednesday, president obama seemed to set another red line, a business round table who warned against the repeat of last year's debacle. >> i want to send a clear message. we are not going to play the game next year. if congress suggests they are going to tie negotiations to debt ceiling votes and take us to the brink of default, once again, as part of a budget negotiation, which by the way, we have never done in our history until we did it last year, i will not play that game. because we have to break that habit before it starts. >> so, "the washington post" made a point friday s